Descendants of Downton
by Vitzy
Summary: After the devastating events of the wall street crash in the USA, Downton Abbey has to be sold and the family disperses. Now its 2013, the descendants of Downton Abbey, the family and the servants have no idea what awaits them. ABADONED AND WILL BE TAKEN DOWN UNLESS SOMEONE ELSE WISHES TO CONTINUE THIS PLOT LINE. PM ME
1. Prologue

**A/N: I have tried my hardest to ensure that there are no spoilers (or if there are, you won't even know that they are spoilers) but if you are not quite up to date with DA, perhaps you'll want to wait. **

…

In the North of England, in the small village of Grantham was a large estate. This estate belonged to Lord and Lady Grantham and they named their estate Downton Abbey. They were blessed with three beautiful and healthy daughters but alas not a single son, so in the year of 1921 when Lady Mary Crawley, the eldest daughter, gave birth to a son, the whole family was joyous. However, joy wasn't to be a constant in the lives of the inhabitants of Downton Abbey. As the years bore on, both upstairs and downstairs, people started to grow and develop certain ideas. Ideas, which would eventually lead to a big fight within the family of masters and servants. Outside the world of Downton, another fight was boiling. The fight for freedom and equality.

It was fortunate that the Dowager Countess and the head butler passed away in 1927, for they would not have been able to stand the slow but steady crumbling of the once proud and ancient house.

1929 began as any other year. The youngest children of the house and the youngest servants of the house were in constant trouble. The elders, getting frustrated with the constant struggle of maintaining the Downton values but keeping up with the times. However the year wasn't to end the way it started.

The Wall Street Crash of October 1929, was the first of a cascade of events which led to the final demise of the estate. Its occupants, in a bid to save some money, sold off all their properties, including the grand estate. The servants were given their final wages and asked to leave; of course Mrs Hughes ensured they all received excellent recommendations. And the family itself also went its separate ways. Speculation at the time says that Mary Crawley and her family moved to the South, whereas Edith Crawley was apparently spotted somewhere in the USA. Lord and Lady Grantham moved to Scotland and occupied Dunegle Castle, which once belonged to Lord Grantham's cousin. Whatever happened to Tom Branson and his wife, Lady Sybil's family, no one ever knew.

Where and how the descendants of Downton Abbey may be now, no one knows. Perhaps the descendants themselves don't even know. But destiny is such that the sun never falls on Downton, as long as those who remember it are still alive. Perhaps, one day, the rightful heirs will return to the countryside of Yorkshire. Perhaps once again, Downton Abbey will be resurrected and will be a thing of the past, no longer.

Perhaps that day is not too far away.

…

**A/N: This was just a prologue; the story will begin with the next chapter.**


	2. Chapter 1

**AN: I'm sorry I took so long to update, had a few things to sort out and a plan to resurrect for this story! To all the American fans, I understand that the finale must have been an extremely huge shocker to y'all! Remember us Brits, had to keep our mouths shut for almost two months. It would be appreciated if no spoilers are left in the comments, jic, someone who isn't quite up to date, stumbles across them…other than that, hope you enjoy!**

…

Alisha woke up with a start, as she often did these days and groaned as her body started to wake up, not allowing her to simply close her eyes and drift back into a dreamless sleep. For a few seconds, she lay completely still in her single bed, her eyes screwed shut, but just then a loud shrill noise made her snap her eyes back open. The alarm clock was ringing. It was six o'clock, Monday morning. It was a daily routine of hers to get a quick shower, jogging pants on and be out of the dorm room with only her keys and iPod. She jogged to the beats of her favourite tunes as she made her circuit around the campus of the University of Yorkshire. This was probably her favourite part of the day.

By the time she had re-showered, gotten dressed and had something to eat, it was already time to meet her personal tutor in the uni. Today was actually quite an important day. They were going to discuss what she would be doing in her third, and final year of post-doctoral research. She already had ideas forming and was eager to discuss them.

Alisha had always lived in Yorkshire. Her entire education was done from here and yet she still felt that there was something left for her to discover before moving on. For most people, staying in one region for so many years could be suffocating, but not her. She felt that she had a connection with this place. She loved the scenery, the accent, the water and even the remains of the old British empire that had left its mark on the Yorkshire territory. Perhaps it was her appreciation for the yesteryears which led the road to her PhD. Certainly, Dr Moore, her personal tutor always said that the best students were those who took a genuine interest in their work. For Alisha, this wasn't work. Pouring over ancient registries and catalogues or making day trips to old, abandoned houses where notable people lived, was a hobby of hers. It wasn't a very sociable hobby. She didn't have many friends and those that she did count as friends had all moved on in life. Here she was, a twenty-four year old woman, still taking loans from Student Finance England , no boyfriend and an unyielding desire to discover and write about as much of the past as she could.

So when Dr Moore suggested that she focused on Yorkshire and local history as part of her final work, there didn't seem to be anything left to discuss. Alisha left Dr. Moore's room, smiling and with an address to village on the outskirts. As soon as she got home, she pulled up Google on her MacBook and typed in the name of the village.

'Grantham' and then she hit 'directions'.

It really was a very small village- no wonder she had never heard of it before. It wasn't too far from the university campus. In fact if she drove straight there, it would take her just under two hours. had said that Grantham was a brilliant place to search for local historical information and Alisha would be making a trip down there very soon, but first, she wanted to do some secondary research.

Hours passed as Alisha, true to her nature, became even more engrossed in the historical facts of the village. There were so many trivial things which became important in the development of current village life. For example the pub/ inn 'Grantham Arms' went through a series of changes of ownerships, until it was finally turned into 'Yorkies Puds', the restaurant chain, well-known in the North. However, what interested her the most was a small article in the newsletter of the village. The article itself wasn't of importance, but a single sentence.

'_Mr. Bates, son of the valet at the once noble kingdom of Lord and Lady Grantham of Downton Abbey has recently been appointed the chair of the village meetings'_

It was times like these that her first ,in her undergrad degree, really helped her out. Her natural ability to scan and pick out crucial details were one of the main reasons why she had chosen to study history at undergraduate level in the first place. She printed the article out and highlighted the sentence, after all, it could give her some insight into what this business of nobles was anyway.

She sighed and stretched her limbs, working her muscles out of their stiffness and went to make a sandwich. It was a simple dinner, but she didn't have the time or the patience to prepare something fancy. Such were the circumstances of student life.

It was a curious feeling, but she felt that the village of Grantham was hiding some sort of secret that only she could unveil. She shook her head and laughed at herself. It was so absurd, but she almost felt like she was in a mystery novel and was on a mission to discover a hidden secret. In a way, she supposed, that was what historians did. Under covering the local past, she mused, wasn't too different to solving a mystery. Both required intelligence, a curious mind and a plethora of evidence just waiting to be touched upon.

It was Monday night, 19th February 2013, and she finally had some direction. She didn't want to put all hope into this trip, but she was really at a loss of what to do next. If she was to graduate in the summer of 2014, she would need to have a suitable level of research underway and written up on. She didn't want to put all her hope in this random village that she never had even heard of, but a weird sensation told her that this was the correct path to take.

…

**AN: Next chapter will have Alisha visiting the little village of Grantham and snooping around :) Please leave reviews to tell me what you think and all!**


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